BAC 1-11

Initially conceived by Hunting Aircraft, the BAC1-11 became one of the most popular short-range commercial jet airliners.

BAC1-11 Prototype G-ASHG air to air in BUA Colours

The main production and flight testing of the BAC1-11 (or BAC One-Eleven) was carried out at Hurn (now Bournemouth Airport) with a second production line at Weybridge, Surrey.

The design of the BAC1-11 was originally conceived by Hunting Aircraft as the 30-seat Hunting H107 although a full prototype was never created.

When Luton-based Hunting were merged as part of British Aircraft Corporation in 1960, the Vickers factory at Brooklands were already working the VC7 project, a 140-seat development of their succesful VC10. Having identified the H107 as 'having merit', the projects were combined under the heading of BAC107 and continued development went ahead at Weybridge.

Market research suggested that at 59-seats, the BAC107 was still going to be too small and much of the design data was re-worked into what emerged as the 80-seater BAC1-11.

Unlike other aircraft entering the market, the BAC1-11 was not designed for any specific sector of the airline market and certainly not with one single airline in mind. This made the aircraft very flexible and in fact it was anticipated that sales orders may reach or even exceed 400 aircraft.

With pre-launch orders already building, the BAC1-11 Series 200 prototype (G-ASHG) first flew from Hurn on 20th August 1963 and although it was very clear that BAC held important technological advantages against the likes of the Douglas DC9, US authorities still withheld their permission for US-based airlines to purchase foreign aircraft.

Despite the tragic loss of the prototype in a crash on 22nd October 1963 (during stall testing), full development continued and saw the introduction of the then revolutionary ‘stick-shakers and pushers’ on the BAC1-11’s control systems as well as a number of additional innovations in airline design.

Confidence remained high with further orders arriving almost weekly and in July 1963 American Airlines (who had finally broken the restrictions) ordered another 15 aircraft, taking their total order to 60.

Finally, the BAC1-11 was certified for passenger service and at last the first customer handover (to BUA with G-ASJI) took place on 22nd January 1965. This was followed in July by the introduction of the Series 400, primarily aimed at the US market.

The stretched Series 500 (or Super One-Eleven) flew on 30th June 1967 and increased the passenger capacity from 79 to 119 passengers, making the aircraft even more cost-effective and popular on European Inter-City routes as well as with the new package holiday operators.

The 510ED version was primarily operated by BEA although they were subsequently operated by several 'Tour Airlines' after their retirement from BEA service.

The Series 475 had been optimised for hot and high / short airfield operations (combining a Series 400 fuselage with a Series 500 wing) and it flew on 27th August 1970. Sadly, the market was changing and other manufacturers were developing newer and more competitive designs so in the end only 10 were sold.

During 1973, a BAC1-11 Series 201 was purchased from British Caledonian and transferred to the RAE Blind Landing Experimental Unit at Thurleigh (as XX105). This aircraft was involved in numerous development flights for what we now commonly refer to as ILS or Instrument Landing System.

In 1977, BAC merged with the Hawker Siddeley Group to form British Aerospace (BAe) and a BAC1-11 Series 800 was proposed. It would accommodate some 150 passengers in a 'mixed-class layout' and although it looked promising for a while, its fate was sealed with the development of a ‘European Competitor’ to ubiquitous U.S. short / medium range airliners and it did not progress to the design stage.

The BAC Two-Eleven and Three-Eleven were British airliner studies proposed by the British Aircraft Corporation in the late 1960s although none made it to the prototype stage.

BAC3-11 Artsists impression

UK production of the BAC1-11 was completed in 1984, with a sales total of 232 aircraft whilst including licenced production by ROMBAC in Romania took the overall total to 244.

Similar to 475, 3 for Oman. Rombac 1-11-495 - Planned Romanian-built version of the Series 475 - None completed.

BAC1-11 500

Extended body version with up to 119 seats and longer span wings. Fitted with more powerful engines (12,550 pounds-force (55.8 kN) Spey 512s); individual customer designations within this series - 86 built.

BAC 1-11 510ED

Variant of the 500 series built for BEA / British Airways - Size and engines same as other 500’s, cockpit modified to provide more commonality with HS121 Trident and required a different type rating from all other 500 series 1-11's

Rombac 1-11-560

Romanian-built version of the Series 500 - Nine completed.

BAC1-11 670

Series 475 with improved aerodynamics and reduced noise - one converted from Series 475.